


Through the Dark

by sam4587



Series: Merthurweek2021 aka Attempts At Angst [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: (they get captured together...), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Captured Arthur, Happy Ending, Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Prince Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Protective Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Torture, Worried Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), captured Merlin, merthurweek2021, tortured merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 00:40:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30080799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sam4587/pseuds/sam4587
Summary: Merlin and Arthur are captured in the kingdom of Lot. Now, all they have to do is make sure Lot doesn’t know it’s Prince Arthur that’s being brought in. Oh, and maybe try to escape, too.[A/N: Wow, I suck at summaries. Don’t mind me.]
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Merthurweek2021 aka Attempts At Angst [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2213214
Comments: 8
Kudos: 77
Collections: Merthur Week 2021





	Through the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Written for day 2 of Merthurweek2021 – "If we don’t get out of here-" "We will!"
> 
> I have absolutely no idea where I went with this. I also have no idea if this counts as angst. _And_ I wrote it in one day, in between other work, because I started too late and needed to get it posted. So… enjoy! 😊  
> This is not beta’d (obviously) so any and all mistakes are mine! If they bug you, feel free to point them out.
> 
> The title is from the song [Through the Dark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD7vrP2yCqI) by One Direction.
> 
> Disclaimer: The story is mine, BBC Merlin is not. Please do not repost.

Sometimes Merlin wondered how they got themselves in these kinds of situations all the time. There was no way it was a coincidence anymore, right? Come on, no one had _this_ much bad luck, it had to be something else. Maybe it had to do with their destinies, he wondered idly.

“Merlin!” Arthur’s hiss dragged Merlin out of his thoughts. He stumbled and nearly landed on his face.

“What?” he hissed back. Arthur glared at him and gestured with his head.

“Pay attention! If you keep dreaming, we’ll never have an opportunity to escape!”

Merlin huffed and looked around. As if they had a chance of escaping in the first place. They were being dragged along behind the carriages of the men that captured them, and their hands were both bound. Moreover, his hands were bound with _iron_ , so even his magic was not an option. He told Arthur as much.

“You know just as well as I do we don’t stand a chance! They outnumber us by far, and my magic is useless with these.” He raised his hands and waved them in the air to illustrate his point. Arthur sighed and looked around, but before he could hiss an answer back, he was hit hard on his back. He managed to catch himself just in time before he fell over.

“Shut up! If I hear another word from either of you, you won’t make it in one piece!”

Merlin looked away from Arthur and glanced over at the man that had addressed them. He had a full black beard and his hair was uncombed, but his clothes were clean – or as clean as they could be after spending three days walking through the forest with prisoners. Underneath all the filth, he could clearly make out the fine stitching and the thin lines of gold thread that made up the man’s clothes. Not for the first time, he wondered how a man with such obvious status ended up being a bounty hunter in Lot’s kingdom.

“Where are we going?” he couldn’t help but ask. It earned him a bump on his head with what felt like the handle of a sword and a grunt to keep his mouth shut. So, they weren’t willing to give any more answers than they were the last five times he asked. Good to know, he thought wryly.

He glanced over at Arthur again and read in his eyes that his prince was asking if he was alright. He inclined his head and smiled softly. Luckily, they didn’t need much words anymore to communicate. They’d left that stage in their relationship a long time ago.

After another day of being dragged along, they finally reached a castle. It looked old, but then again, all the castles in the Five Kingdoms looked old. It sometimes surprised Merlin there weren’t more incidents of falling stones killing people than there were.

He shook his head to get his thoughts in order. Now was not really the time to think about crumbling castles. There were more important things to worry about. For example, the fact that he and Arthur were forced to their knees in front of King Lot, sitting on his throne with an especially smug expression on his face.

“Well. Who do we have here?”

“My Lord. We found these two sneaking around in the woods near the border with Camelot. They won’t tell us who they are, and they has no identification on them, but this one,” the man addressing Lot nudged Arthur in the back with his foot, “is wearing fine clothes, so he must have an important rank within Camelot. Perhaps a knight, my lord?”

Merlin relaxed slightly when he realized they still hadn’t figured out who Arthur was – if they knew they had the Prince of Camelot in chains, they wouldn’t be this nonchalant about it. Lot wasn’t as pleased with the news, though.

“What do you think I could do with a _knight_? It’s not like they don’t have enough of those in Camelot! I doubt they’d be willing to pay for this one. He’s not even that good, probably, look at him! He’s barely of age!” Merlin saw Arthur squint and he hoped sincerely the prat could keep his pride inside. If these men thought he was not worth a lot, maybe they wouldn’t put too much effort in keeping him guarded. Luckily, Arthur seemed to come to the same conclusion, because he schooled his face back to the blank expression from before. Merlin doubted anyone else had seen the change. Lot, meanwhile, was still talking. “And this one! He’s even younger! And his clothes are ragged, he’s probably just a servant, not even worth a single penny! Why would you think I’d be interested in this?!”

Lot turned to their capturer and Merlin saw the man back away a little. Then, one of the other men seemed to remember something and he stepped forward with a triumphant expression on his face.

“My lord. The servant boy may be of interest to you. He has magic.”

If anything, at least that piqued Lot’s interest. His eyes widened almost comically as he turned to Merlin and took in the iron shackles around his wrists. “Does he now? Well, why didn’t you start with that? That certainly changes things!”

Merlin closed his eyes at the evil twinkle in Lot’s eyes. Right. He knew he shouldn’t have tried to escape with his magic a few days earlier. They’d been knocked out and recaptured immediately. By the time he woke up, the chains around his wrists kept his magic inside. He could feel them slowly drain him, but had kept that part hidden; he wasn’t about to give them a clue about the power he possessed. Better let them think he was some kind of petty sorcerer who could only light some candles.

Arthur sat up next to him. “Leave him alone,” he growled, his voice low and dangerous. Lot didn’t spare him a glance as he walked over to Merlin, stopping right in front of him. He took Merlin’s chin between his fingers, forcing him to look up. Merlin jerked out of his grasp and backed away.

“Are you going to be difficult?” Lot asked. Merlin didn’t bother answering the rhetorical question, instead opting to glare at the king in front of him. “Fine. Be like that. We’ll see how you feel when we make you scream. Take them away.” He waved his hand at the door and turned around, clearly done with his prisoners. Arthur and Merlin were lifted to their feet and dragged through the hallway roughly. As soon as Merlin was thrown into the dungeon, his legs gave out. Arthur was just in time to catch him while the door slammed closed behind them. Neither of them paid any attention as the lock clicked and the guards left.

“Merlin,” Arthur whispered, gathering him in his arms. “Merlin, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Merlin leaned into his touch and groaned. “I- ugh,” was all he managed before he slumped completely and dragged Arthur with him to the floor. His body felt heavy and he had trouble keeping his eyes open. “I don’t- I think I need to sleep for a while. Yes,” he murmured, and closed his eyes. The last thing he saw, was Arthur frowning at him with worry in his eyes.

-*-*-*-

When Merlin woke up, his head was on Arthur’s chest. He groaned and tried to sit up, but fell back down immediately. Arthur stirred underneath him and slowly opened his eyes as well.

“Merlin?”

“Arthur,” Merlin managed, before a coughing fit had him heaving for air. Arthur sat up and supported him while he gasped for breath.

“Merlin? What’s the matter?” Merlin could see the panic starting to form in Arthur’s eyes, despite the prince trying to hide it. He tried to sit up again and leaned his head back against the wall. Through his headache, he suddenly realized what was wrong.

“It’s- It’s these cuffs. They’re making me sick, blocking my magic, I-” He gasped for breath again as a wave of nausea overtook him.

Arthur surged forward and gathered him in his arms. “It’s okay. It’s okay, we’ll get them off soon enough. Just hold on, okay? You’ll be rid of them soon enough.” He stroked up and down Merlin’s back in a soothing motion and Merlin relaxed. His breathing stabilized, but he could still feel his magic writhing under his skin.

“Arthur, if we don’t get out of here-”

Arthur didn’t give him a chance to finish his sentence. “We will!” Merlin winced when he raised his voice. Arthur apologized immediately and continued quieter. “We will, Merlin, we’ll get out of here, everything is going to be just fine. I promise.”

Merlin sighed at the words. He decided he didn’t need to point out to Arthur that if they didn’t get these cuffs off soon, he wouldn’t make it. Even now, he felt like he could go to sleep and not wake up anymore. The cold iron cut in his wrists, apparently not absorbing the warmth of his skin as you’d expect metal to do normally.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door of their cell opened. Merlin felt Arthur tighten his hold involuntarily as their visitors approached, but the prince was ripped away from him violently and thrown across the room. Merlin didn’t have the strength to protest as he was lifted from the floor and dragged out of the cell. He heard Arthur yell after him, but the men dragging him forward didn’t pay him any mind. Before he knew it, he was kneeling in front of a huge man standing next to a fire. To Merlin’s dismay, he could see several iron bars in the flames. He only had time to think _Oh, this is going to be fun_ before the hot iron met his skin and he was screaming his lungs out.

White hot pain exploded behind his eyes and he felt his magic raise to the surface. It was stopped by the iron chains still around his wrists, however, and there was nothing protecting him from the scorching iron being pressed into his skin. He didn’t even hear the question that was directed at him before the pain took over and he lost consciousness.

-*-*-*-

Merlin blinked awake to see Arthur standing over him. His head throbbed and his skin felt like it was being torn apart, but at least he was alive. Arthur didn’t really share that feeling.

“Merlin! You’re awake! Oh, wait until I get my hands on them! They won’t know what hit them! I’m going to tear all of them _apart_! Just you wait and see!” Arthur screamed into the empty hallway. His face was bright red and he was breathing heavily. Merlin grunted and Arthur turned around to him. He kneeled and his tone changed completely. “Merlin. What did they want from you? Why did they take you? What did they do? Do they know who I am?”

Merlin huffed at the stream of questions and sat up. “No, they don’t know who you are. I- I’m not sure what they wanted, though. I… passed out rather quickly.” Why was he embarrassed by that? That didn’t make any sense!

“Good. The less you tell them, the better. But if you have to say anything to save your life, save your life. I won’t have you die because you wanted to protect me, understand?”

Merlin huffed and couldn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes, even though it felt like his head would explode at the movement. “I’ve been risking my life to protect you since the day we met, you prat. Don’t think I’m going to stop now just because you know about my magic.”

Arthur scowled at his words. “That’s not what I meant. I love you, and I don’t want to lose you. Okay?”

Merlin softened and smiled. When the smile tore on his chapped lips, he winced. Arthur dragged his thumb over the wounds on his face and stood up. He gathered the bowl of water that was left for them to drink from and dipped a piece of his tunic in it. Gently, he started cleaning Merlin’s wounds, and the cool water on his burns had him hiss in pain. Arthur apologized, but didn’t stop, and Merlin let him; Gaius had taught him enough to know that his wounds needed to be treated as best and as soon as possible.

Arthur was muttering nonsense to him while he worked, and Merlin let himself be soothed by the familiar hum of his voice. When he was done, the prince put the bowl aside and pulled Merlin closer. Merlin leaned closer and brought his mouth to Arthur’s ear.

“I love you too,” he whispered, before burying his face in Arthur’s neck and closing his eyes. Exhaustion pulled him to sleep soon after.

-*-*-*-

He woke up from agonizing pain coursing through his body. It was like his blood was on fire and it was burning him up from the inside. He let out a scream and curled into himself. Arthur was with him in seconds, but Merlin couldn’t form any words to explain what was wrong. He writhed on the floor, trying to get rid of the torturing pain. There was nothing he could do to stop it, though. He screamed again and only stopped to gasp for air. He felt the tears stream down his face, but couldn’t concentrate on anything else than the fire in his veins. Vaguely, he registered the door of their cell opening. From a distance, he could hear Arthur yelling at whoever came in, and then there were hands on his body. He was dragged out of the cell, down the hallway, but the pain prevented him from putting up any sort of resistance. He was forced on the ground again – not that he would have been able to stand up anyway – and someone approached. Through the tears, he recognized Lot, and he tried to back away, but it didn’t do any good. Lot bent down and then-

Everything exploded.

Merlin felt the magic rush out of him all at once and he slumped to the floor. Everywhere around him, stones started falling down, and men were crushed. He pulled his hands over his head on instinct. That’s when he noticed his cuffs were gone; his wrists were freed from the iron. Suddenly, he understood what was happening.

Without a moment’s thought, Merlin got up from the ground and ran to the doors. He threw them open and rushed down the hallway, towards Arthur. Around him, the castle continued to crumble down, and everywhere, there were men trying to escape. Merlin wasn’t hit by a single piece of debris; his magic had conjured a shield protecting him without him even needing to think about it. That was probably a good thing, since the only thing on his mind was getting to Arthur and taking him away from there.

Arthur was looking at him with wide eyes when he halted in front of the cell. He opened his mouth, but Merlin cut him off by opening the cell door with his magic. He grabbed Arthur’s arm and dragged him behind him, out of the collapsing castle as fast as he could. His magic continued swirling around him, keeping them safe from falling stones and showing him the fastest way out at the same time.

Merlin stumbled in the grass and fell to his knees. Arthur was breathing heavily next to him, also on his knees, and Merlin cast a look over his shoulder. He winced when the northern wall came down in its entirety and heard Arthur gasp. His eyes were wide in shock and… wonder?

“Arthur, are you okay?” he asked, moving to check Arthur for wounds with his hands. Arthur averted his eyes from the pile of stones that was left of the castle and took Merlin’s wrists in his hands. He held them until Merlin could bring himself to look his prince in the eyes.

“I’m fine,” Arthur reassured him. Merlin opened his mouth, but Arthur continued talking. “Thanks to you. What exactly happened?” he asked, and Merlin sighed at his tone. It was filled with awe, but he knew Arthur well enough to recognize the slight hint of fear as well.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted, “but… I think… Wait.” Merlin dragged his hands out of Arthur’s grasp and sat down more comfortably on the ground. Without asking, Arthur mirrored his position across from him. “The iron kept my magic inside, locked. When they hurt me, it tried to… help, but it couldn’t. So… I think it built up inside of me. I’m not sure. All I know is that it hurt incredibly, and that Lot took off the chains. I don’t know why he did that, he must’ve seen what was happening. Perhaps he knows more about magic than we thought. Well,” he added with a look at the castle, “at least, he knew. I don’t think anyone made it… out.” His voice died out as he thought of all the death he’d caused. Arthur seemed to read his mind, because he took Merlin’s hands again and pressed his lips against his knuckles.

“You only did what you had to do. It was us or them. You’re not to blame,” he whispered softly.

Merlin sighed and shifted uncomfortably. “I know, but still… I hate using my magic to hurt people. It’s not meant for that. It’s…”

Arthur squeezed his hands and muttered, “I know. I know.” It was all he said, but Merlin felt himself calm down at the words. He’d gone through so much effort to prove to Arthur that magic was good; he knew the prince believed him. It couldn’t hurt to repeat it, though. Especially since he felt the need to hear the words himself every now and then.

Arthur pressed another kiss to his hands and then straightened up. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. It’s a long walk back to Camelot, we’d better get going. After all, there are many things waiting for us in Camelot.” The mischievous twinkle in his eyes had Merlin on edge immediately.

“Are there?” he asked while accepting the hand Arthur offered him and pulling himself up. He swayed on his legs a little, but Arthur wrapped his arm around him sideways and he leaned into the touch.

“Oh, yes,” Arthur smiled and leaned forward, so his mouth was next to Merlin’s ear. He whispered something, barely audible, but it sent shivers down Merlin’s spine. He tried to hide it as he scoffed and shoved Arthur’s shoulder.

“Empty promises, _my lord_. Let me first see if you can get us home.”

Arthur laughed out loud and turned Merlin’s head to press a kiss to his lips. Before Merlin had a chance to deepen it, he pulled back, and with one last glance over their shoulders, they started walking. Behind them, the dust settled down on what was once the castle of King Lot.

**Author's Note:**

> So, thank you for reading, I hope you liked it! Come scream on [my Tumblr](https://sam4587.tumblr.com/) with me if you feel like it.


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